Sri Lanka To Release Indian Fishing Boats

February 12, 2015

Sri Lankan Government has decided to release all the 87 fishing boats in its custody following New Delhi's intervention, Indian media reported citing Fisheries Department officials in Rameswaram yesterday.

The island government asked Indian officials to produce the documents of the boats for verification in Sri Lanka, reports said.

Gopinathan, Assistant Director of Fisheries told PTI that the fisheries department officials would leave Chennai with the registration certificate of the fishing boats, under the custody of Sri Lanka.

The documents would be produced at the local court in Sri Lanka and after verification, they would be released by the Court, he said.

The Indo-Sri Lanka Fishermen Negotiation Committee had yesterday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to begin the third round of talks with Sri Lanka to secure the release of 87 Indian fishing boats in its custody, among other issues.

(with inputs from PTI)